Chapter 61: The Collapse of the Building, the Pei Family Meets with Disaster

  When the Lin family's carriage reached Zhengyang Avenue, they encountered an accident. Hundreds of people blocked the street, making it impassable. The air was filled with the sounds of scolding, peddling, and children crying, creating a chaotic scene that seemed to have no end.

  Daiyu rubbed her temples and ordered Xueyan, who was standing beside her: "Go take a look, what's going on outside? Why has the carriage stopped?"

  Xueyan gently lifted a corner of the curtain and sat down beside the old woman in the escort carriage. On the street, people had already seen the Lin family's carriages and horses, guessing that it was a wealthy household, and seeing a twelve or thirteen-year-old little girl come out of that luxurious carriage, they thought she was a lovely young thing.

  "What's wrong ahead? Why isn't the carriage moving?" Xue Yan asked the coachman and the rough-looking woman.

  The coachman was a native of the capital, and had been added to the Lin family's staff after they moved to the Jia mansion. He was an expert at driving and familiar with the streets of Beijing. As soon as he saw the little maid emerge from inside, he smiled and explained: "Don't worry, miss, this is Zhengyang Street, where officials' families are often bought and sold. It's so lively today, I'm afraid some family has been confiscated and the slave traders are selling people."

  Xueyan felt uncomfortable all over as soon as she heard the two words "sell people". She herself was sold to a human trafficker by her parents because of poverty when she was young, and now she couldn't even remember what her parents looked like.

  "Xueyan, how did you get out?" A loud shout came from behind, Xueyan hastily turned her head to look back, a fine horse rushed to her side, with someone riding on it, who was Guan Ying, one of Master Lin's servants.

  Xueyan's face involuntarily turned red. "Guan Nian, big brother, it's the young lady asking me to ask you what happened. Why has our family's carriage stopped?"

  Guanyin listened and hastily shouted to Daiyu in the carriage: "Miss, I'm Guanyin, a young servant by Master's side. Master told me to tell you not to worry, there are people selling goods ahead, Master has already sent someone to clear the way, it won't take long before we arrive home."

  "What family is it that has committed a crime?" Lin Daiyu's voice came from behind the thick curtain.

  "Report back to the young lady, it's said that they are the family members of Lord Pei from the Imperial Censorate."

  Mr. Pei? Daiyu had never heard of this person from her father, and was probably not closely related to the Lin family, so after hearing Guanlian's words, she didn't pay much attention to it anymore.

  The Lin Mansion crowd was waiting for the road to be cleared, but suddenly a cry of surprise came from the crowd. A blue-clothed girl squeezed out of the crowd, followed by several old women who looked like they were from the dental profession. This group of people rushed straight towards Daiyu's carriage.

  The coronet and the few family guards standing by the carriage saw this, immediately surrounded Lin Daiyu's carriage, drew their long swords, and stared tightly at the newcomer.

  The girl in blue didn't know why, but seemed to have recognized Daiyu and rushed forward, ignoring the stern gaze of Guan Ying and others. With a thud, she fell to her knees and started kowtowing, her forehead bleeding profusely after a while. "Please, kind-hearted people, save my life."

  "What's going on?"

  Guanning heard it was Lin Daiyu's voice, and hastily dismounted his horse, walking up to her, "Miss, you're the daughter of an official's family, running ahead of us calling for help." Before he finished speaking, the people chasing behind had already kicked the blue-clad girl to the ground, still cursing at her mouth, "Little prostitute, you want to die, thinking you can escape? Look at how we won't beat you to death!" As they spoke, they were about to lash out with their whips.

  "Halt." A green-clad girl walked out from behind the curtain, who was none other than Bi Die. "Our master asks you, will this girl be sold?"

  The old woman of the dental shop heard this and said with a smile: "Sell sell sell, why don't you sell?"

  Bi Die didn't want to look at those few ugly faces of the women, so she turned her head to one side and said, "Name a price!"

  "The master of the girl wants to buy her, this is her good fortune, after all better than selling her to that Zan place." One of the women pulled the blue-clothed girl's hair and forced her to lower her head, "Quickly thank this young lady."

  The blue butterfly said impatiently, "What's all the nonsense? Just name a price. If our master sees you later, not only will he refuse to pay, but he'll also drive you away."

  "One hundred and two, not a single cent less." The old woman said with a smile.

  "Hmph, what a big tone. Nowadays, buying a little girl is only twenty taels of silver, you dare to ask for one hundred taels? Are you crazy about money?"

  The old woman didn't get angry, and slowly said: "I think this young lady isn't from our capital city, the market conditions here are different from yours. The wives of these officials are all precious and talented, they can play the piano and paint, it's really hard to come by such good quality goods. They're easiest to sell, 100 taels is still a low price! This one isn't just any ordinary little maid, she's the legitimate Miss Pei from the Pei family. If you buy her back, you'll definitely not lose out."

  The girl in blue rushed out of the crowd, apparently with some skill, and charged straight at Daiyu's carriage. It was probably because this carriage was the most eye-catching, and the girl in blue knew at a glance that there was a wealthy master inside who could definitely save her life. At this time, she couldn't care about dignity anymore, crying and shouting while kowtowing, "Please, miss, just buy me out, I will surely repay your great kindness in the future."

  Daiyu spent a hundred taels to buy the blue-clad girl, and the women from the pawnshop left with joy. The onlookers seemed to be used to seeing people being bought and sold, and after discussing it for a while, they dispersed. The blue-clad girl's face was covered in dust, her clothes were disheveled, and her hair was messy. Bixie couldn't see what she looked like clearly, but her voice was clear and crisp.

  Bi Die stood on the carriage shaft, looking back at the team. After thinking for a moment, she told Guan Nian, "You take this girl to the carriage of the older women in the back and have her sit there first. We'll talk about it when we get home and see how Master and Miss deal with it."

  The girl in blue was originally hanging her head low, but after hearing Bi Die's sentence "girl", her body stiffened slightly, and then let out a faint bitter smile. Ah, what else can be done now that everyone is no longer the second miss of the Pei family? From now on, there will never be a second miss of the Pei family again, only a little girl from a wealthy family.

  The blue butterfly saw the coronet being sent off with the young girl in the last single-horse carriage, before slowly turning back into the curtain.

  "Miss, that girl has already passed by." Her voice was slightly hesitant. "Miss, that girl is actually the daughter of a criminal official. I saw her wearing a blue shirt made of Lianghu's brocade, she should be a young lady or something. If we buy her, who knows what kind of trouble it will bring?"

  Daiyu thought for a long time before slowly opening her mouth, "I don't want to get involved in this matter, but since we've run into it, not helping would leave me with a guilty conscience. Although I don't know what great mistake the Pei family has committed that requires their entire household to be confiscated, these young girls are still in their youth, just like me. If our family doesn't buy her, she'll naturally fall into someone else's hands. The Lin family treats people kindly and although they won't provide her with luxurious food and clothing, at least she can eat her fill. Moreover, even if brother disagrees, we only need to return the contract of sale to her and let her find her own way out or send her to a nunnery, which is easy to do. One hundred taels may not be significant to our family, but it can save someone's life."

  "This girl has met our young lady, it is also her good fortune from her previous life. I only hope that she will be careful and keep to her place in the future." Zijuan was born into a servant's family, destined to be a slave from birth, so she naturally understood what it felt like for these noble girls to suddenly fall from their high positions. Without expecting memories, she would live a good and honest life, but I'm afraid this bought-over maid will find it hard to forget her past."

  "Miss, if Master agrees to keep her, we must also arrange for someone to instruct her properly."

  Daiyu nodded in agreement: "It's probably that this girl can't adapt all at once. When Madame Wang comes back, please ask her to personally take care of and instruct her. Zi Juan, Bi Tiao, after you go back, find some old clothes for her to wear, and when the season changes, make new clothes like yours. For now, follow the example of a third-class maid and give her an allowance."

  The old woman accompanying the sedan chair outside shouted loudly: "Miss, the sedan chair is moving, please sit tight."

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, no sooner had he finished speaking than the car began to move slowly.

  They arrived at the back door of Rongguo House, it was already late, Daiyu and others in the Gongzhufu had not eaten anything, and were already very hungry. Although they brought some exquisite pastries on the carriage, it was just barely enough to hold them over.

  There are more houses in the alley, all of which are relatives who depend on the Rong and Ning families for a living. Seeing Lin's car stop, some people whispered to each other, while others pretended not to see anything.

  This corner gate is very small, and carriages cannot enter naturally. Everyone can only get off at the door.

  Daiyu finished her toilette and saw that the meal was already laid out in the central hall. Rongzhe and Xueqing were sitting quietly on one side, drinking red bean and date sweet soup. Daiyu asked Yanqiu, who was wiping Rongzhe's mouth: "What? Haven't Young Master and Miss yet had their meal at this hour?"

  Yan Rong handed the small bowl in her hand to Rong Ze again, smiling and saying: "The young master and the young lady have already eaten, but this morning they woke up early and didn't see the lady and the old man, so they were not happy. Just now, hearing the sound from the courtyard, they didn't sleep at noon either, and insisted on coming to have a meal with the lady and the old man."

  Daiyu smiled and rubbed Rongze's head, the little guy pouted his mouth and smiled sweetly. She asked Xueqi what she had learned today, but followed Yanrong sister to play happily?

  Then Lin Zhiyuan saw this scene as soon as he came in, a lovely young girl like a June lotus flower, softly instructing two children.

  "Sister, come and have dinner."

  The meal was very simple, just four vegetarian dishes and a bowl of sweet soup. Because they returned late, Zhiyuan and Daiyu didn't want to ask the kitchen in Rongguo House to cook separately again, so they just ordered the young servants to buy some from the restaurant outside. After dinner, the maids brewed fragrant tea again. Only then did Daiyu have time to talk to her brother about today's events.

  "Brother, just now when I was passing by Zhengyang Street, sister, I bought a person." Daiyu hesitated for a moment and still said it out.

  It's clear that Zhiyuan has already heard the news from Guanlian. "Sister likes it, just buy it, but today's events are a bit chaotic, I'm afraid you were scared?" He heard Guanlian say that the girl rushed to your carriage? Seeing Daiyu nodding, he continued: "This girl can be bought and left by her side, there's nothing much. I reckon she won't stir up any big waves either. There's just one thing, sister needs to remember."

  Zhiyuan also called out to Yanrong and Zixi, "You two follow the young lady and pay close attention. I heard Guanlian say that this girl is only 14 or 15 years old, yet she was able to break free from the crowd and rush towards you. This in itself is not a simple matter. Furthermore, she only ran towards you, which means that at the time, this girl thought that only our family had the ability to buy her out. The women of wealthy families are all proud and arrogant, some even sacrificing their lives for the sake of reputation. This girl, in order to survive, knelt down in front of my sister, showing her hidden temperament."

  PS: This chapter was uploaded on the evening of the 30th, stored draft! On the 1st, Xinghe's "Hong Lou Ye Hua" will be put on shelves, although there are many words, it is still decided to stay in the "Works Related" section and talk about it in detail. Xinghe only hopes that after being put on shelves, the results won't be too miserable, thank you everyone! A little later, a short article will be posted to tell everyone the update time and number on the 1st! Please pay attention at any time! ^_^ Thanks to Death Blade ldxiii, biooil2010, Ling Mao Mao, Chieh-g, Nai He Hua Luo Chu, Bo He Ling Lan.